(1)

In 2008 an Agreement has been concluded in the form of an Exchange of Letters between the European Community and the Arab Republic of Egypt concerning reciprocal liberalisation measures on agricultural products, processed agricultural products and fish and fishery products, the replacement of Protocols 1 and 2 and their annexes and amendments to the Euro-Mediterranean Agreement establishing an association between the European Communities and their Member States, of the one part, and the Arab Republic of Egypt, of the other part, hereinafter ‘the Agreement’, which has been approved by Council Decision 2010/240/EC (2).

(2)

The Agreement provides for new tariff quotas for agricultural and processed agricultural products originating in Egypt. It provides also for changes to existing tariff quotas for those products which are laid down in Regulation (EC) No 747/2001, Commission Regulation (EC) No 2276/2003 of 22 December 2003 opening tariff quotas and laying down the duties applicable within these tariff quotas for imports into the European Community of certain processed agricultural products originating in Egypt (3), Commission Regulation (EC) No 955/2005 of 23 June 2005 opening a Community import quota for rice originating in Egypt (4), Commission Regulation (EC) No 1002/2007 of 29 August 2007 laying down detailed rules for the application of Council Regulation (EC) No 2184/96 concerning imports into the Community of rice originating in and coming from Egypt (5) and Commission Regulation (EC) No 1455/2007 of 10 December 2007 opening certain Community import quotas for rice originating in Egypt (6).

(3)

It is necessary to implement the new tariff quotas and the changes to the existing tariff quotas provided for in the Agreement. For reasons of clarity, it is appropriate to bring together all tariff quotas for agricultural and processed agricultural products originating in Egypt in one single legislative act.

(4)

Regulation (EC) No 747/2001 should therefore be amended accordingly and Regulations (EC) No 2276/2003, (EC) No 955/2005, (EC) No 1002/2007 and (EC) No 1455/2007 should therefore be repealed.

(5)

Import licences issued under Regulation (EC) No 955/2005 and Regulation (EC) No 1002/2007 are valid from their date of issue until the end of the following month. Where the validity period of import licences issued under those Regulations before the entry into force of this Regulation expires after the date of repeal of those Regulations, importers could not comply with their obligations related to import licences. Member States should therefore be permitted in such cases to derogate from Commission Regulation (EC) No 376/2008 of 23 April 2008 laying down common detailed rules for the application of the system of import and export licences and advance fixing certificates for agricultural products (7), and to release the security lodged by importers. In the interest of clarity it should also be provided that import licences issued after the entry into force of this Regulation under Regulation (EC) No 955/2005 and Regulation (EC) No 1002/2007 are to be valid only until the date of repeal of those Regulations.

(6)

For the purpose of calculating the tariff quotas for the first year of application, it should be provided, in accordance with the Agreement, that the volumes of the tariff quotas for which the quota period starts before the date of entry into force of the Agreement, should be reduced by a proportion relating to that part of the period which has elapsed before that date.

(7)

Since the Agreement enters into force on 1 June 2010, this Regulation should apply from that date. However, in the interest of legal certainty, provisions concerning the validity of licences issued before that date should apply immediately.

(8)

The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Customs Code Committee,

(1)

Annex I to Regulation (EC) No 881/2002 lists the persons, groups and entities covered by the freezing of funds and economic resources under that Regulation.

(2)

On 11 May 2010 the Sanctions Committee of the United Nations Security Council decided to add two natural persons to its list of persons, groups and entities to whom the freezing of funds and economic resources should apply and to amend two entries on the list.

(3)

Annex I to Regulation (EC) No 881/2002 should therefore be updated accordingly.

(4)

In order to ensure that the measures provided for in this Regulation are effective, this Regulation should enter into force immediately,

(1)

The representative prices and additional duties applicable to imports of white sugar, raw sugar and certain syrups for the 2009/10 marketing year are fixed by Commission Regulation (EC) No 877/2009 (3). These prices and duties have been last amended by Commission Regulation (EU) No 427/2010 (4).

(2)

The data currently available to the Commission indicate that those amounts should be amended in accordance with the rules and procedures laid down in Regulation (EC) No 951/2006,

(1)

Under Article 10(3) of Joint Action 2009/709/CFSP, the Council authorised the Political and Security Committee (PSC) to take relevant decisions on the establishment of a Committee of Contributors (CoC) for EUSEC RD Congo.

(2)

The European Council Conclusions of Göteborg of 15 and 16 June 2001 established guiding principles and modalities for third State’s contributions to police missions. On 10 December 2002, the Council approved the document entitled ‘Consultations and Modalities for the Contributions of non-EU States to EU civilian crisis management operations’ which further developed the arrangements for the participation of third States in civilian crisis management operations, including the establishment of a Committee of Contributors.

(3)

The CoC will play a key role in the day-to-day management of EUSEC RD Congo. It will be the main forum for discussing all problems relating to the day-to-day management of the Mission. The PSC, which exercises the political control and strategic direction of the Mission, is to take account of the views expressed by the CoC,

(1)

On 12 February 2008, the Council adopted Joint Action 2008/112/CFSP on the European Union mission in support of security sector reform in the Republic of Guinea-Bissau (EU SSR GUINEA-BISSAU) (1). That Joint Action was to apply until 31 May 2009.

(2)

On 18 May 2009, the Council adopted Joint Action 2009/405/CFSP (2), which amended Joint Action 2008/112/CFSP and extended it until 30 November 2009. On 17 November 2009 the Council adopted Joint Action 2009/841/CFSP (3), which amended Joint Action 2008/112/CFSP and extended it until 31 May 2010.

(3)

On 5 February 2010 the Political and Security Committee (PSC) endorsed the continuation of the EU engagement in SSR in Guinea-Bissau and requested planning of a new Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) mission supporting implementation of SSR.

(4)

By letter dated 22 February 2010, the Prime Minister of Guinea-Bissau invited the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy (HR) to launch a new mission with a mandate to provide training, guidance and advice to ensure successful continuation of SSR process.

(5)

Following the 1 April 2010 events and the launch, on 19 April 2010, of an EU political demarche vis-à-vis the Guinea-Bissau authorities, on 30 April 2010 the PSC agreed that, in order to ensure coherence across EU external policy instruments, the mandate of EU SSR GUINEA-BISSAU should be extended until 30 September 2010 with a view to making a final decision on further CSDP engagement in Guinea-Bissau by July 2010, based on a strategic review and on developments on the ground. In this context, the PSC recalled and reaffirmed the pre-conditions for further EU engagement in the field of SSR, including respect for democratic principles, human rights and the rule of law.

(6)

Joint Action 2008/112/CFSP should be amended accordingly,

1.

Article 1(1) is replaced by the following:

2.

Article 9(1) is replaced by the following:

3.

In Article 17, the second paragraph shall be replaced by the following:

‘It shall apply until 30 September 2010.’.

(1)

Following the establishment in 2002 of the regulatory framework for electronic communications networks and services in accordance with European Parliament and Council Directives 2002/21/EC of 7 March 2002 on a common regulatory framework for electronic communications networks and services (Framework Directive) (1), 2002/19/EC of 7 March 2002 on access to, and interconnection of, electronic communications networks and associated facilities (Access Directive) (2), 2002/20/EC of 7 March 2002 on the authorisation of electronic communications networks and services (Authorisation Directive) (3) and 2002/22/EC of 7 March 2002 on the universal services and users’ rights related to electronic communications networks and services (Universal Service Directive) (4), the Commission adopted Decision 2002/627/EC (5) establishing an advisory group of the independent national regulatory authorities on electronic communications networks and services, called the European Regulators Group for Electronic Communications Networks and Services (the ERG).

(2)

The ERG has made a positive contribution towards consistent regulatory practice by facilitating cooperation between national regulatory authorities (NRAs) and between NRAs and the Commission and by providing an interface for advising and assisting the Commission in the electronic communications field.

(3)

The 2002 regulatory framework for electronic communications has been amended by Directive 2009/140/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (6), and by Directive 2009/136/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (7) and has been supplemented by Regulation (EC) No 1211/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 November 2009 establishing the Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications (BEREC) and the Office (8).

(4)

Under Regulation (EC) No 1211/2009 the role previously performed by the ERG is strengthened and given greater recognition in the revised framework, through the establishment of BEREC itself and its enhanced participation in the development of regulatory policy as well as in the mechanisms provided for ensuring consistent application of rules across the Member States. In particular according to that Regulation, BEREC is to replace the ERG and act as an exclusive forum for cooperation among NRAs and between the NRAs and the Commission, in the exercise of the full range of their responsibilities under the EU regulatory framework.

(5)

Decision 2002/627/EC should therefore be repealed,

(1)

Regulation (EC) No 1760/2000 establishes a system for the identification and registration of bovine animals in order to ensure the transparency of the conditions for the production and marketing of beef and beef products. To that end, the Regulation requires the Member States to set up national bovine databases which will record the identity of the animal, all holdings on its territory and the movements of the animals. In addition, it imposes an obligation on keepers of animals to report to the competent authority, inter alia, all movements to and from the holding, along with the dates of these events, within a period fixed by the Member State of between three and seven days of the event occurring.

(2)

The Regulation provides for the possibility for the Commission at the request of a Member State to extend that maximum period and to set up special rules applicable to different mountain areas, which was done by means of Commission Decision 2001/672/EC of 20 August 2001 laying down special rules applicable to movements of bovine animals when put out to summer grazing in mountain areas (2).

(3)

Pursuant to recital 4 of Decision 2001/672/EC these special rules must result in a real simplification and foresee only what is absolutely necessary to guarantee the fully operational character of the national bovine databases.

(4)

Decision 2001/672/EC applies to such movements during the period from 1 May to 15 October. Practical experience with the application of that Decision has shown that in some mountain areas movements to summer grazing areas start already in April. The scope of application of Decision 2001/672/EC should be amended accordingly to take account of that fact.

(5)

Under certain conditions, animals, which are moved from different holdings to the same summer grazing mountain area, arrive there over a period of more than seven days. In order to reduce unnecessary administrative burdens, time limits in Decision 2001/672/EC should therefore be adapted to take account of that practical fact without compromising traceability.

(6)

Decision 2001/672/EC should therefore be amended accordingly.

(7)

The measures provided for in this Decision are in accordance with the opinion of the Committee on Agricultural Funds,

1.

in Article 1 the date ‘1 May’ is replaced by ‘15 April’;

2.

Article 2(4) is replaced by the following: